The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structures.
In the past, the semiconductor industry utilized various methods and structures to build power supply controllers to regulate the output voltage of a power supply system. As power supply controller technology has progressed, recent high efficiency power supply controllers were designed to provide a synthesized output impedance in order to increase the efficiency and minimize power dissipation within the power supply system. The synthesized output impedances also assisted in minimizing overshoot and undershoot to rapid changes in the current supplied to the load which was often referred to as a load transient. Often, the power supply system had multiple output channels that assisted in providing a large output current at a low voltage. The multi-channel controllers generally utilized an error signal that included information proportional to the current in the output inductor in order to regulate the output voltage. Usually, a chain of amplifiers and resistances was used to convert the load current information to a signal that was used by the controller to regulate the output voltage. The amplifiers typically introduced errors that affected the accuracy of the output voltage. The amplifier loops generally also were rather complex and costly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a power supply controller that has a less complex configuration, that minimizes errors in the output voltage, and that has a lower cost.
For simplicity and clarity of the illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein, current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain N-channel or P-Channel devices, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the words during, while, and when as used herein are not exact terms that mean an action takes place instantly upon an initiating action but that there may be some small but reasonable delay, such as a propagation delay, between the reaction that is initiated by the initial action.